Monday, August 19, 2013

Parents Allow Babies to Choose Gender From Birth

Transgenderism beliefs were first confined to mentally ill adults, but then spread to sexually confused teens; most recently parents have been encouraged to allow preschool kids to think they're a different gender, and now, the German government will provide birth certificates with NO gender identification, such that the baby can choose on its own.

"The new law also stipulates that individuals can opt to remain of indeterminate gender for their whole lives."

A new German law stipulates that children who are born of indeterminate gender no longer have to be categorized as "male" or "female." Instead, parents can choose to leave the space blank on their child's birth certificate, according to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Those individuals can eventually decide whether to identify as male, female or neither.

The German legislature voted this as an amendment to the Civil Status Act on May 7. As Süddeutsche Zeitung recently noted, the "legal change has received little attention so far." But that all changed when some determined the new law, while progressive, doesn't go far enough.

Incidentally, Germany's not the only country navigating the legal implications of appropriately categorizing third gender identifiers. Earlier this year, Nepal began issuing "third gender" citizenship certificates. Activists lauded the progressive measure, noting its potential to simplify lives for sexual minorities.

. . . Under the new law, individuals can also opt to remain outside the gender binary altogether.

. . . just six weeks after Australia became the first country in the world to introduce legal guidelines on gender recognition. Under the Australian system, which applies to all personal documents, individuals can select the third category irrespective of whether or not they have undergone sex reassignment surgery or hormone therapy.

Finland is the only EU member state aside from Germany to have made significant progress in the area of third gender recognition. Despite its efforts, bureaucratic hurdles in the Nordic country have meant that there is still no concrete legislative change in sight.

According to Silvan Agius, policy director at human rights organisation ILGA Europe -- the European chapter of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association -- the European Union is lagging behind on the issue. Though Brussels commissioned a report on trans and intersex minorities in 2010, and has since attempted to coordinate efforts to prohibit gender discrimination, progress has been halting.

The new law will come into force on November 1, on the back of a constitutional court decision which states that as long as a person “deeply feels” that they belong to a certain gender, they have a personal right to choose how they legally identify themselves.

Justice Minister Sabine Leuthheusser-Schnarrenberger said the decision will have deep repercussions and will require “comprehensive reform” of all documents issued by the state.

The ‘third gender’ designation will also have an effect on marriage laws. As of now, only men and women are allowed to legally marry in the country. Homosexual couples can enter into a civil partnership, and no provisions are made for unions between other genders.